posted 11-18-2005 01:30 PM
Hello Everyone,Last night we attended the event in Lancaster (Edwards AFB backyard), where Dr. Hansen had a book signing and some great test pilots & engineers gave a talk. On the wall behind the 4 speakers were still photos of NA in the 104N, X-15, at his desk and a great one of him stepping out of the centerfuge after a 14 G test. There were also movies of the X-15 launching & landing and other test aircraft in flight.
There were about 70-80 people in attendance including cS favorite AztecDoug and my mom who's a long time 99. Unfortunately NA is in Europe so he couldn't attend and all 500 tickets offered were sold quickly. However, when it was found out that NA wasn't comming, the promoter experienced a 60-70% refund demand. Doug told me a story that had me shaking my head in disbelief. 2 guys drove to the event from LA (80 miles), at 1pm to have their books autographed by NA, but when they heard at 4pm that he wasn't appearing, they drove back in rush hour traffic. Traffic is so bad at that time, that I'd rather have dental surgery without drugs, by a first year dental student with a palsy shake, rather than sit in that traffic.
Also attending the event were some extraordinary test pilots and engineers who built and worked on most of the aircraft at Edwards from the 40's to the 90's. Bill Dana, Stan Butchart, Roger Barnake and Gene Betranga spoke, with Dr. Hansen adding his comments. These guys are so amazing, not only for the history that they've helped create, but the fact that they are such nice guys to talk to. After the event, they all took time to sign 100+ items put in front of them.
Each of these guys told NA stories, their history with him and they told other stories about the LLRV and X-15 development. Listening to these gentlemen is like having your favorite history book being read to you and I couldn't get enough.
Bill Dana told a funny story about NA studying for his MA at USC while he was at Edwards. NA had completed his course work, but decided to move to Houston when NASA offered and USC refused to give him his MA. Years later USC needed a speaker for their graduation ceremony and asked NA if he'd speak. NA happily agreed but only if he received his MA and he finally graduated with his well earned parchment, that was NOT honorary.
Another Bill Dana gem came after being asked what makes a superior pilot. He said "A superior pilot is one who plans his flight, using his superior intellect to keep ahead of his aircraft, so he will avoid using his superior skills getting out of trouble".
Gene Betranga helped build the LLRV & X-15, he is a wealth of info about them and he spoke about trying to get the F-104N to match the X-15 lift-drag ratio of 3. He said that Scott Crossfield almost killed himself while trying to replicate the drag in another aircraft and with God on his shoulder, again, landed hard at the bottom of a bad oscillation.
Roger Barnake met NA when he was 17 when he started at NACA. He told a few stories when he, NA, Stan & Bill were traveling around the country by airplane picking up parts and meeting contractors. He told a funny story about when they got into a town, NA negotiated with a hotel manager for a cheaper rate so they wouldn't exceed their allowance. After NA got the manager to agree to a lower price, Roger walked up next to NA and asked the manager if he could break a $100 bill. NA almost killed him for blowing his hard work. Roger told how he was NA's mule and had him carry 5 bottles of Tequila across the Mexican border. He also said that NA could drink with the best of them.
The most frightening story was told by Stan and he brought photos of the aftermath. Stan with NA as his co-pilot, were flying a B-29 getting ready to drop an aircraft, when the #4 engine quit and couldn't be restarted. Stan tried to feather the prop 3 times, but it would return to flight config, so it couldn't be feathered properly. After the 3rd try, the prop over rotated and was impossible to control, so he knew that there was going to be a centrifugal explosion of the prop. Stan told the pilot in the test aircraft that they were going to drop him because they were at 31,000ft and Stan knew what was going to happen to the prop. They nosed the B-29 over to get some speed and dropped the aircraft. 10 seconds later the #4 prop exploded sending a large blade through the #3 engine destroying it, through the fuselage directly where the test plane was sitting, then impacted the #2 engine on the other side. Had the test aircraft not been dropped, the pilot would have been killed and the resulting explosion would have destroyed both aircraft. Stan was left without any stick control, NA had marginal control, but they brought the B-29 in for a landing on a dry lake bed. The damage was incredible and it is a miracle that everyone wasn't killed.
Before the event, a few of us were talking to Stan and he related a WW2 combat story that was unbelievable. Stan & George Bush were in the same squadron, Bush was #2 aircraft and Stan was #9. Stan was talking about attacking and sinking a Japanese carrier, then said he attacked and help sink a 2nd Japanese carrier that afternoon. 2 Carriers in one day, not bad for a days work. When asked about the flak and gunfire comming from the ships, Stan said "you just had to concentrate on your attack and not worry about it". Ok.....
Stan also told a funny story about how NA was in his living room a few months before the AP11 flight. Stan is an Eagle Scout and wanted NA to fly his BSA ring to the moon, but NA forgot to take it. After the mission, NA came to visit Stan and he said to NA "you forgot to take my ring to the moon with you". NA apologized, took the ring and gave it to Fred Haise to fly on AP13. After that mission, Fred was in Stan's living room apologizing for not being able to take his BSA ring to the moon. Tell's you the kind of people these are, where Fred Haise is apologizing for not being able to take Stan's ring to the moon.
Another outstanding gentleman who attended this event was Bob Gilliland who was the SR-71 test pilot and the first man to fly everyone's favorite aircraft. He was such a great person to talk to, he was telling me stories about Kelly Johnson and his time at Edwards. He's giving a speech tonight in Glendale, Ca and Saturday in Burbank, so if you're in the area, I would HIGHLY recommend you take time to hear him speak.
I asked Dr. Hansen what his favorite part of his book was and he said NA's time in Korea. One little revelation Dr. Hansen did share was something that NA never talked about until this book. NA was asked during training for AP11, if he wanted to change his LMP from Buzz to Jim Lovell. NA thought about it, he said that Lovell deserved to command a lunar mission of his own and since he & Buzz worked well together, he'd keep the crew together. I don't know what prompted the possible crew change, but it's interesting that the option was offered, especially during training. NA never told anyone this story until this book.
Dr. Hansen will be appearing at the San Diego Aerospace museum on Saturday from 10-12 with 2 of NA's squadron buddies from Korea. He will also be appearing on Sunday from 1-2 at the Fleet Center just up the road from the SDAM.
Sorry again for the long post, but I want others to share the details & stories that we never get to hear.
Ray
[This message has been edited by Spacepsycho (edited November 18, 2005).]
posted 11-18-2005 01:30 PM
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